One of the biggest mistakes artists and musicians make is not having any plan at all. Many artists just focus on the “now” and don’t put much thought into a long term approach. Does focusing on the “now” work? Any band who has handed out flyers knows it can, but your rewards are only in the short term. You need to think of the process as building, where the steps you take today will help set up the steps you will need to take tomorrow.

More than anything else, independent bands need to capitalize on every single advantage they can. Any time an opportunity presents itself – take advantage of it. It may not amount to much, maybe a few CD’s sold, but by duplicating several “smaller” opportunities, the end results add up to something substancial.

Below is a very simple marketing plan, it is by no means the textbook definition, nor is it for every group out there. This is just a simple example to get you started. Your plan can be as detailed or basic as you want. The important thing is coming up with a custom plan in the first place.

The XYZ band Marketing Plan

Using the above as a guide, the band has identified what it wants to accomplish as well as a means to get there. This is by no means the final marketing plan, it’s just a place to start. As the band progresses, it will find certain points work well and others, not so well. It‘s a good idea to revisit the plan every month or so, evaluating everything and adding ideas that come up along the way.

But for now, lets break down the plan laid out above in a little more detail.

Primary Goal – A, A-1

The band’s primary goal is to get signed to a major. Since the band doesn’t have a ton of experience, the plan of attack for that goal is very general at this point. Later when the band has identified what they are looking for in a label and learned more about the label, the plan of attack will change dramatically. But for now the band’s plan of attack (A-1) is a good start.

Alerting the label as to what the band is doing is very much a building process. Labels are inundated with thousands of bands who hope to get signed. They key is to stay the course. Persistence illustrates your seriousness if nothing else. It may not get the response you want initially, but after a while the people at the label will start to recognize the bands name. The key is to be persistent, not pushy.

If you don’t know who to talk to or need help in getting in contact with the labels, the Music Phone Book (MPB) is a good place to start. The MPB lists over 1,100 record labels complete with the A&R contact person and direct phone number. (Click here to order a copy of the MPB)

If you don’t know what a CD sales journal is, a little music education may be your next step. There are several music conferences throughout the country that can be immensely beneficial to independent musicians. Tim Sweeney, one of the most successful consultants to both major labels and artists gives a seminar called Music Strategies that details CD sales journals among many other aspects of the industry.

Secondary Goals

The band’s secondary goals should all relate to the primary goal. These are the smaller steps a band needs to take to put themselves in a position to achieve their primary goal.

B-1

Obviously selling more CD’s is beneficial to a band in many ways. The examples listed under the plan of attack are pretty self explanatory, but many bands don’t bother to implement any of those steps. The nice thing about getting your CD’s in local record stores is the contact can be used to jump start a relationship between the store’s owner or manager and yourself. Keep in mind the initial steps are generally done once, the rest of it is following up to check on progress.

If your CD isn’t available on your band’s website you are losing a HUGE opportunity to increase your CD sales. Getting someone to visit your website is the hard part. Once they are there, make sure its easy for the to buy your music, find out where your playing, sign up for the band’s mailing list, etc.

The web can be a powerful tool for your band, unfortunately many bands assume any website will do. Nothing could be further from the truth. A website a band gets for free usually includes pop up windows and is extremely limited. Not to mention an un-godly long web address. If your band’s website isn’t your band’s name dot com, look into registering your band’s name. Its relatively inexpensive and is logical for the fans who just type in your band name and add the dot com at the end.

Selling merch at shows T shirts, Stickers, and especially your CD’s is huge. We are a nation of instant gratification and you need to take advantage of that. Not only do you get cash in hand, you may not get another chance to sell your CD to those people. Take advantage of every opportunity you can.

B-2

If you don’t have a mailing list, start one immediately. If someone takes the time to sign up they are obviously fans. Don’t waste the opportunity to get more people to your shows by not having a mailing list.

If possible get someone to help sign people up to your list at your shows. Keep in mind, that person should not look intimidating or have the personality of a … you get the idea. Find someone approachable – for some reason pretty girls seem to be the best. Make sure there is also a mailing list sign up sheet at your merch table – not either or. By having someone with the list walking around after your set AND having a sign up at your merch table you double your chances.

Street teams can be one of the best assets a band can have. Street teams are fans of a band who agree to help out by distributing posters and flyers before a band comes to town. Usually street teams get free admission to the show as well as free T shirts etc. The idea is to have people spread the word about the upcoming show - who better than music fans local to the market you will be playing in? A fan who approaches the band after a show is always a good place to start when looking for street teamers.

If you haven’t played a market yet but are planning to, you can probably find street teamers in the Music Phone Book as well.

Trading shows is a great way to build a fan base in a new market. Find a band that plays a similar style of music. Trade shows – they come and open up for you at a show in a market where your band does well, then go and open up for them at a show in a market they do well in. Since you both play similar styles of music, chances are you will attract many new fans.

B-3

Developing relationships with the press can be as easy as inviting a reporter to your show and making sure they know what’s up with the band from time to time.

Again persistence is key. Reporters are more apt to write about a band that they know about. If you call once and never follow up, why would the reporter remember you? By keeping a writer “in the loop” they have more reasons to write about you as they have a feel for the band.

Send them a promo packet with a CD, T-shirt sticker, etc. The Most important thing to send is your music. They are never going to write about you if they don’t know what you sound like.

If you don’t know who to talk to at a paper or magazine, again you can get that information out of the Music Phone Book complete with the name of the music editor as well as their direct phone and email.

Press releases can give an added boost to any show or event. Make sure it is professional in appearance and limited to one page. Simply include the; who, what, where, when and why. For more information on press releases try searching for Press Release with the major search engines.

B-4

Although not as important as it used to be with the internet and clear channelization of American radio, there are stations out there that play independent artists and musicians. However most do not, so its important to identify the stations that do play independent music and develop relationships with anyone at those stations as you can. Obviously the PD (Program director) is the best person to know, but anyone at the station who likes your band and brings it up to other people at the station can be just as effective.

Make sure any contact you have at the station has at least one of your CDs. If possible send that person additional CD’s so they can drop a copy on the PD’s desk and hand them out to the individual DJs.

Inviting your contacts at the station to all your shows in that market is important. If it’s a good show, they will tell other people at the station about it. It’s standard to put these people on your band’s guest list. If possible, buy them a drink but most importantly, make sure to talk to them personally and thank them for coming to the show.

If you do have someone from a local station come to a show, make sure to mention the station while you are on stage. If you take the time to promote a station, the chances of them helping your band down the road obviously increase. You don’t have to “sell out” to do this, a simple “Maybe you guys have heard this next tune on KROQ” is enough.

At the very least, fans of that station may call the station and request your band’s tune. If the station is already playing your music, telling people at your shows they can call and request a certain song on a particular station will certainly help you get more airplay and get noticed by the station’s PD.

As I mentioned earlier, the above marketing plan is very simplified. By simply mapping out on paper what you want to accomplish and how you plan to get there you have laid the foundation for success. The level of success you will achieve will be determined by how much time and energy you put into your plan. But more than anything else – stick to it. It may not be immediately effective, but if you stay with it – you will notice results!

Now that you are now looking at the big picture it becomes easier to see how one step may help you with steps further down the road. It isn’t hard, but it does require some inititive on your part.

If your just starting out and don’t have many music contacts, a copy of the Music Phone Book should be your first step. There is simply no bigger asset than knowing who to talk to in any number of fields and there is no better way to find those people than the MPB.

Keep on keeping on and until next time, happy holidays!